Throughout the early stages of the pandemic, Piers Morgan repeatedly made headlines for his no-holds-barred takedowns of then-health secretary Matt Hancock while presenting Good Morning Britain.
And while Piers’ GMB days may now be long behind him, he still had plenty to say about the news that the Tory MP is set to make an appearance on the new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! later this month.
Speaking on his TalkTV show Piers Morgan Uncensored, the divisive broadcaster fumed: “The first wave [of the pandemic] was a disaster and the health secretary presiding over this was Matt Hancock.”
Piers told a care home owner: “For [Hancock] to now – before there has even been a proper inquiry into what happened and what culpability he may actually be proven to have had – for him to now go into a reality show, in a jungle for hundreds of thousands of pounds is an absolute smack in the face for people like you who had to go through so much appalling trauma of losing all these people in your homes.”
“The fact he’s still an MP receiving an MP’s salary is just completely disgraceful,” he continued.
Later in the segment, Piers went on to say: “The brass neck of it – I think he’s ending his career.
“The British public are going to make him do the worst challenges and then very quickly boot him out.”
He added: “The taxpayers pay their salaries and the very least we expect is that they serve their constituents and they turn up and vote, neither of which he can do for up to four weeks in Australia whilst he’s on this ridiculous vanity exercise of assuming the British public will warm to his creepy little self and vote for him.
“They are not, they are going to vote for him to do despicable things and then kick him out.”
Soon after it was first reported that Hancock would be going into the I’m A Celebrity jungle as a late arrival, it was confirmed he’d had the Tory whip removed.
“Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect,” Chief Whip Simon Hart said in a statement.
Hancock has since insisted to The Sun he is not taking part for the money, claiming: “Some may think I’ve lost my marbles or had one too many drinks, swapping the comfortable surroundings of Westminster and West Suffolk for the extreme conditions of the Australian outback, going where there will be few creature comforts, not enough food, and a load of physical tasks involving snakes, spiders and plenty of other creepy-crawlies.
“While there will undoubtedly be those who think I shouldn’t go, I think it’s a great opportunity to talk directly to people who aren’t always interested in politics, even if they care very much about how our country’s run.
“It’s our job as politicians to go to where the people are — not to sit in ivory towers in Westminster.”
Fellow Conservative MP Nadine Dorries previously competed on I’m A Celebrity back in 2012, and also had the whip suspended as a result.
The public chose Dorries to compete in two Bushtucker Trials during her short stint in the jungle, after which she became the first contestant to be eliminated from the show.
I’m A Celebrity returns on Sunday night on ITV. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored weekdays from 8pm on TalkTV